kajeet slashes jobs, focuses on Internet sales
Hi there! If you're new to the site, you may want to subscribe to the the feed.
It seems we can’t round up much positive news on the MVNO front nowadays. While the whole Virgin/Helio thing is nothing more than a spate of rumors at this point, we do have some actual news from a Sprint MVNO. kajeet, a cell phone service targeted to kids aged eight through fourteen, is cutting jobs and shifting their focus online. Given the difficulty of turning a profit in the industry, this seems like a logical move.
“We did restructure and let go a reasonable number of people,” CEO Daniel Neal confirmed, declining to disclose the number of dismissed employees. “We’re finding that we’ve had to adjust the skill set as we learn more; we’re having to tune the business.”
Having a physical retail presence can be beneficial in some scenarios, but given the trouble in MVNO-land, kajeet is probably making the right move here. Brick and mortar outlets bring along tons of overhead — rent, staff, physical product, electricity, etc. But keeping the focus online can eliminate much of that while, if done properly, expanding the reach of kajeet’s services.
The company will continue to offer their products at Best Buy, Target, Toys R Us, and other retailers. They will, however, show the same level of aggression they have in the past.
Loading ...
The MVNO model certainly doesn’t seem to be sustainable. And even Boost, which is not an MVNO is seeking subscriber declines. It’ll be interesting to see what the prepaid industry looks like in five years!
Posted on June 25th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
With the U.S. mobile market saturation nearing 100 percent, we could see a rejuvination of MVNOs in the next three to five years.
Posted on June 26th, 2008 at 7:53 am